A New Beginning
by ChryssaHart
Summary: After her mother's death and with an absent father, Sam has to move to Amity Park with her grandmother. One complex relationship develops between her and a certain boy and she has to solve some mysteries while struggling to adjusting to a whole new life. AU story. Warning: The prologue might seem a little too depressing.
1. Chapter 1

_**A new beginning**_

**_Prologue_**

_Sam's POV:_

It's been a whole month. A whole month full of pain, guilt and uncertainty. Even the thought made me shiver, try to control myself, try not to cry. Everything reminded me of that night.

I had one usual argument with my mother and as always I decided against obeying and I went out. Every day I wish I hadn't gone. Every day I blame myself for being so hard on my mother. I could, even if I hadn't stayed home, I could at least have the courage to say goodbye. But no, I am lucky enough to inherit my father's selfishness. My father who didn't even bother to tell us where he was going or at least show some empathy before they put him in jail. Anyway, it's already been three years. I have already accepted the fact that he wouldn't come back even if I begged him, unless… No, he would never come back.

I remember the cold air, blowing without hesitation, knocking down anything that got on its way. Those feelings of agony and realization of something going completely wrong were more intense than ever. And even though I never wished it, my suspicions were verified.

I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to. The front door of our mansion was open and the inside was just plain chaos. I tried to spot my mother but all I could see was broken furniture, half of the treasures decorating our once lively living room were missing and every other item was scattered. The same scenery went on in the rest of the house until…

I remember my knees trembling, struggling to keep me standing. I felt my weight lifting as I stared with bated breath which I often forgot I needed. I heard a distant scream, or at least I thought. It was my own scream. I was screaming, crying, trying to control myself. I just wanted to leave, to wke up from this nightmare but everything was true.

My mother wasn't looking somewhere in particular. Her eyes were blank and had an expression of endless pain. In her one hand, she was holding a knife, one of those knifes she used to carve the christmas turkey while we exchanged our gifts. A moment full of magic I knew I would never again experience.

Her head was brushing against the floor, just like every other time she fell asleep on the couch after a tiring day, only this time she was surrounded by a small puddle of blood.

I wanted to hug her, wake her up just like every morning we were late for school but I couldn't. I knew I had to stay calm and maintain my sanity. After putting a little effort, I managed to find my cell phone and with trembling hands, I dialed the hospital number and as I did that, everything started to fade. Black growing circles successfully blocked my vision.

It's been a whole month and I remember this moment as if it happened just the previous day. I remember the face of my always so elegant and confident mother, her blank expression and her helpless body lying on the floor. Her chest remaining thin and her pale skin colour contrasting the black circles under her eyes. Life was drained from her insides, from every inch of her face. I was left alone.

Since that day, everyone treated me like a helpless piteous creature. Maybe I was, but I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want others to feel my pain and guilt. I wanted to be alone, find the time to regain my strength, my pride. I desperately wanted to hide everything I felt but nobody seemed to understand it. All I could do was learn to live with it.

On the contrary, I shouldn't be complaining. Everyone showed consideration and understanding. They informed me with all their compassion. They informed me about someone breaking in my house and taking the most important thing I had left in the world away from me. They told me that I had to move and go live with the only family member available, my grandmother, in the totally unfamiliar town of Amity Park. I should have known better. I should have known that I couldn't keep living there or waiting for my father to rescue me. No matter how scared I was it seemed like a good chance to start from the beginning. To find everything I had lost.

**A/N:** I don't really think the title has much to do with the story but I suck at labeling my stories so I don't think I had many options other than writing the first thing that popped into my head…

**Disclaimer:** I don't own DP.


	2. Chapter 2

**A New Beginning **

**Chapter 1**

Sam's POV:

The sunlight was creeping in through the window shutters. The room was filled with soft colours and the warmth of the winter sun touched my face.

I opened my eyes irritated, and tried to continue my peaceful sleep and as I finally did , my alarm clock rung. With my eyes still closed, I started searching for the turn off button in order to get rid of this annoying sound. When I found it, it was hard not to stay in the same position for a little longer.

I stood up, put on my robe and started crawling to the bathroom. I carefully washed my face, touching slightly each of its edges, trying to eliminate the dark circles under my eyes. I then put on my usual black outfit and started untangling my long black hair.

While I was walking down the stairs, I was greeted with wonderful smells. I was really grateful to my grandmother for respecting my ultra-recyclo vegetarian beliefs and helping me acclimatize to this way of living.

Without hesitation, I started gulping all of my favourite breakfast snacks. My grandmother, who hadn't heard me coming, turned her head abruptly at the sound of me dragging my chair.

"Good morning sweetheart! How was your night?" She asked me with a gentle tone while mixing up some ingredients for a vegan cake.

"Same us usual, although I'm kinda nervous about school." It was very easy to talk to her about anything. It might have been the way she treated me that made me feel so comfortable with her from the first moment I moved here even though I hardly knew her.

"You have every right to be nervous. Truth to be told, a new girl moving here is really intriguing for our always curious residents." She joked making an ironic face.

"I'm afraid this feature does not apply to this town only." I added recalling all of the times I've been the main issue of gossip, especially to all those popular girls.

"I don't mean to worry you but school starts in fifteen minutes by now and being late in your first day wouldn't be much helpful." She informed me causing me to step out of my painful memories.

"You're right, thank you." I agreed standing up and getting ready to leave.

"Take care!" She shouted while I was going through the door.

…

As I stepped out of the bus, Casper High came into view. It was a common school building which seemed old and harassed despite the obvious attempts for renovation.

I was glad people were too caught up in their conversations to notice me walking by. It was really easy to make it to the main entrance. I tried hard not to get lost in the hallways and find my way to the Principal's office.

I finally reached the small room and knocked the door. The moment I heard the principal's voice calling me in, the door opened wide and a jumpy teenage boy fell right into me.

"Watch where you're going!" he shouted angrily at me.

I then raised my head and met with his icy blue eyes which were glaring at me. I was feeling a mixture of rage and empathy for the boy and even though I wasn't in a mood for a fight I couldn't help myself.

"It's not my fault that you can't open the door more calmly, and you were the one to fall into me in the first place!" I answered him in the same tone he used.

"Well, I have to go to my class." He stated and left. Just like that.

"Yeah, get lost chicken." I called after him. It wasn't really my intention to be so curt. It was just something in this boy that made me go crazy but I don't know if it was in a good or a bad way.

I finally stepped into the office. A short woman was waiting patiently for me while gesturing me to be seated. She was looking sweetly at me with a small smile that masked her prior frustration. My experience usually helped me notice when someone was hiding their feelings.

"Welcome to Casper High dear, I am Principal Ishiyama." She said giving me her hand.

"Samantha Manson." I responded with a handshake.

"I have been informed about the latest incidents in the matter of your registration to our school and I completely respect the fact that you don't want any information to be leaked out."

"That would be very appreciative of you." I said feeling very relieved.

"No worries, it's my job after all. I am handing you your schedule now, if you have any questions feel free to ask." She said giving me the pieces of paper.

"Thank you." I answered taking them and heading to the exit.

I quickly found my way to my first class. It was English with Mr. Lancer. I generally liked english because I always expressed myself through my assignments. I never thought of English as a difficult subject. It is all about organising our thoughts, something that any logical person would be able to do.

I entered the room and found everyone's eyes staring at me. Each person had their own expression but everyone shared their curiosity with others. The one thing that I noted was a certain boy whose messy back hair were falling right in front of his eyes, pretending to not care about my affliction. Not that it mattered anyway, it was just too obvious.

I sat on an empty seat I found in the back. It was a good way to avoid all those questioning looks my new classmates gave me. After a little while, our teacher came in the classroom.

He was a bald middle-aged man who had a bored expression on his face. He started talking about some things that happened to him during summer holidays but no one seemed to care. The moment everyone groaned was when he announced the homework he would be assigning us for next week.

"I will put you in pairs and you all have to do an assignment about each other. This way you'll be able to get to know each other better. I want this assignment done by the end of the next week." He took the name catalog in hand and started pairing us. "Well well, let's see. Paulina and Kwan, Dash and Starr, Mikey and Hellen…" He kept on until I heard my own name. "The new student, Samantha Manson, with Danny Fenton." he finished.

I quickly searched in the crowd to spot my partner and I was slightly surprised to see no one other than this particular boy getting irritated by the sound of his own name.

How ironic was that? I was left with one and only option: I had to get to know Danny Fenton.

**A/N:** It is very hard for me to write this story and the dictionaries aren't always that helpful. If something doesn't make sense blame it in my greek way of thinking or however this might be called.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Danny Phantom.


	3. Chapter 3

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 2**

Sam's POV:

I approached him as he was sitting alone at a small round table during lunch. He noticed me coming and frowned. How was I supposed to cooperate with a person who highly dislikes me? As if that wasn't enough, I would have to tell him things about myself. I finally reached the table and raised my hand, signaling him to stop, when he tried to protest.

"I know you don't wanna do this and neither do I but we have to make a better start and try to cooperate with each other." I remarked.

"Don't take it too personally I just don't have the time for these lame assignments" He replied looking at me with a careless expression.

"What could you be doing that doesn't let you any time to do your homework? I bet you could fit at least two hours of studying in your so busy program."

"Don't be so sure, you don't know the least about me and you are already jumping to conclusions." He stated taking a bite of his hamburger.

"I think I can spot a careless immature jerk when I see him." I answered putting my hands on my hips very irritated.

"That immature jerk doesn't want an immature know-it-all to be involved in his life."

"I'm sorry to inform you that this is what our assignment is all about and there's no way to avoid it." I started feeling regretful for being so lousy, he was right after all, I didn't know anything about him.

"Well then try to be a little more respectful to others and we might actually get to do this thing." He said dropping the burger from his hands and turning his gaze directly at me.

"Ok, I might have been a little harsh, so, what about coming over tonight and see if we can pull it off?" I suggested.

"You live in that mansion across the park right?" he asked.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Ok, I'll probably be there around eight." He said raising his eyebrows.

"You'd better" I pointed my finger at him and left.

…

My grandma sat on her chair and we both started consuming our pasta. We hadn't spoken a lot since I came home but from the look I had she probably suspected that my first day didn't go that well. After a little while of uncomfortable silence, past the fact that we were eating, I found the chance to inform her about our upcoming guest.

"Grandma, there's this boy I have to do an assignment with, I invited him over tonight. Is that okay?" I asked trying to look relaxed.

"Of course darling, who is he?" She asked cheerfully.

"Danny Fenton" I replied. "Do you know him?"

"Well, it would be hard not to, considering everything he's been through." She replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Darling, don't you know about him?" She asked with her eyes widening.

"Well, obviously not." I responded matter-of-factly.

"His parents were ghost hunters, that's not so strange since our town has been attacked by a lot of ghosts, but one day they started claiming that their own son was a ghost and of course our mayor, Vlad Masters, considered them mentally disturbed and send them away to the madhouse."

As she finished narrating I was shocked. Was that even possible? Ghosts? Crazy parents? Madhouse? How messed could a seventeen year old's life be? And how was I so naïve to treat him the way I did? I felt getting sick by all the regrets that were growing within me.

"Are you serious? How can that be possible? There is no such thing as ghosts, and Danny, can't possibly be one? When did all of this things happen anyway?" I starter bombarding her with questions that were likely to get rid of all my disbelieves.

"No one believes in something unless they actually see it. It has been three years and it was quite an interesting happening that concerned everyone. It started a lot of rumors and I belive it totally destroyed this boy's life. He only associates with his sister who took completely charge of his guardianship."

"This is hard to believe, and I have to admit, I didn't treat him the best way." I said putting my hand on my forehead.

"You can always make it up to him, he does need someone to understand him."

"Do you believe that it's true, can his parents, or even he, really be crazy?" I asked waiting to hear her opinion.

"I don't like judging by what other people say but since I have no proof for or against it so I try to be aloof. From the little encounters I had within he seemed very nice and down-to-earth." She said.

"I hope you're right because he didn't give me that impression earlier today." I more of said to myself.

"I hope so to." She said and continued eating.

I would have to do more research on this town's history. I actually found myself being very interested in all those facts about ghosts and this boy but I decided to wait until later to have all my questions answered. After all, what is the best source to learn something other than the something itself. I don't even know if that made any sense but I bet Danny could inform me about some things. I started feeling grateful to mr. Lancer for assigning us a such theme.

…

I kept on switching the TV channels for at least fifteen minutes but I wasn't able to find anything interesting. I was really impatient to meet Danny tonight and thinking about him, I realised it was only five minutes before eight and he would be over by any time now.

I quickly got up and turned the TV off. I climbed the stairs and headed to my room. I placed everything we needed for our homework on my desk and cleaned up the small mess that was created and headed back down to wait for Danny to come.

But he never did. I waited as the minutes, or maybe hours passed till it was midnight. I didn't think he would stand me up, or at least after everything I heard from my grandmother. My opinion for him had started to change but now I didn't know what to think.

I concluded that it would be better to wait until tomorrow to clear everything up.

**A/N:** This took very long for me to update but I'm really busy with my schoolwork, exams etc. I need some support so please review to let me know if I should continue.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Danny Phantom.


	4. Chapter 4

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 3**

Sam's POV:

I was walking through some alleys, lost, literally and metaphorically. I wasn't able to form an opinion about him still. He never came to my house, he never came to school, and I haven't seen or heard of him since yesterday morning. I am full of confusion and I still haven't gotten the chance to get rid of it.

I desperately wanted to verify that everything was just rumors. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that everything was true and I wasn't sure if I was ready to face all of these unbelievable possibilities becoming a reality.

While I was still trying to find my way home, the temperature suddenly dropped and I was almost blinded by huge amount of light appearing out of nowhere just in front of my eyes. After some seconds it started to fade and I was socked by the view that had just unfolded.

There, right before me, was an enormous mechanical beast fighting with an almost familiar teenage boy. They were both flying and exchanging fireballs in a breathtaking battle.

I was glad that they hadn't noticed me so I found the opportunity to hide behind an old red car. Even though my instinct was shouting me to run I found myself glued to the spectacle.

Then, while I was watching the fight between those beings, I was struck by the memory of what I had learned just the previous day. They were ghosts.

There has to be something that doesn't add up. Seriously, there can't be a such thing as ghosts. It might be a dream or some uncool prank. But how can those two so realistic creatures with the glowing aura around them not be supernatural, not ghosts, not true?

Even though it was hard, I had to believe it and it became harder not to, when I heard the most painful sound coming out of the boy's mouth when he tried to avoid a fatal attack while being cornered.

The terrifying monster knelt down and suddenly disappeared in another blinding light that was coming out of a device that seemed to be a thermos which was controlled by the white-haired boy.

When he finally was alone, he gave up his heroic figure and broke down. Then, I spotted many bruises and wounds that were oozing a green liquid, all over his body. His black jumpsuit was ripped in many parts.

Suddenly, two white rings formed around his body. They moved in opposite directions, the one going up and the other going down, and they replaced the ghost boy with an even more familiar face, Danny Fenton.

I must admit I wasn't expecting that. Good news is Danny's parents are proved right. Bad news, Danny is actually a ghost. What was I supposed to do now? My grandma said he was a good kid, I thought he was a jerk. I was kind of afraid but I couldn't just leave a hurt boy lying there and besides, I needed some answers, even more than before.

After a while of thinking, I decided to approach him. Even if I left, I couldn't keep pretending I didn't know anything about him. He would definitely understand it. I walked to his way, taking measured steps. He was now in a sitting position, thank god he hadn' t passed out, and was looking the other way. When I was close enough I spoke: "Danny Fenton?"

He turned his head so quickly I almost missed him moving. He looked at me with widened fearful eyes. I think I saw some sweat starting to drip from his forehead. He stood like that for a couple of minutes, just staring at me, when he finally said with an unstable voice: "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." I replied. Even though I had so many questions I realized it was harder to ask than I thought.

"So you saw. Well, for starters, I am not going to hurt you, I have never hurt anyone." He continued having the same expression.

"I am not afraid of you, at least not more than I am confused."

"I can explain everything you want me to." He seemed to relax a little.

"That would be a lot helpful." I answered.

He stood up and walked to my direction. "We'd better start from the beginning. But first, I am Danny Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom." He said raising his hand and expecting a handshake.

"Sam Manson." I said giving him my hand.

"Nice to meet you Sam." He said with a sweet dazzling smile.

**A/N:** This pretty shorter than the other chapters but I figured it would be better if I separated the explanations in another chapter. Please tell me your opinion.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Danny Phantom.


	5. Chapter 5

**A New Beginning**

**Chapter 4**

Sam's POV:

We were sitting on the only bench of the street. It wasn't a cold day, but it was cold enough to make me shiver every once in a while. We had kept some space between us, to make the situation a little less strange and awkward, but I couldn't say it was working.

Danny had quickly healed from every wound but his clothes remained ripped and dirty, and his black hair were even messier than before. It took him a while to decide how to start explaining but he eventually found the urge to begin.

He turned his look at me, and I felt a little embarrassed to be caught staring but I ignored the upcoming blush and tried to focus on everything he was about to say.

"Three years ago, when I was fourteen, my parents built a very advanced machine, a ghost portal. It was supposed to be opening a way to the ghost zone, the place where all ghosts come from. At the beginning, they didn't manage to make it work and after a lot of attempts, they gave up. One day, I was cleaning the lab but the portal drew my attention and I decided to take a look in it and see if I could find the problem." he said and made a small pause.

"I stepped inside and while I was trying hard not to stumble in the dark, I accidentally pressed a button and then..." he sighed. "Then I felt the most horrible pain anyone could imagine. I was electrocuted by a rich amount of energy and in the process, ectoplasm, the main part of ghost's anatomy, fused with my human DNA and made me what I am today."

"What exactly is that?" I asked being curious.

"I am a halfa. Half human and half ghost." he answered.

"Are there any others? Like you?" I was full of questions but I didn't bother to think which of them to ask.

"That's when it gets complicated." He came a little closer hesitantly. "The only other halfa is Vlad Masters A.K.A. Plasmius. He became like this because of my dad when they were in college. In addition he lost the love of his life, my mom, by the man he deadly hated. He lived the rest of his life in loneliness, gained strength and money, and made my life a living hell."

"Why you?" I asked feeling a little stupid. If he wanted tom, he would say. Why do I have to ask so many questions all the time?

"You see, I was the perfect son he could never have and he desperately wanted me to join him. Of course, I refused, and our relationship became pure hatred. He is like my arch enemy. But he is evil beyond limits. He became Mayor of our city, and when my parents came close to finding out the truth about me, with clues he himself had given them, he accused them of being crazy and took them away. I haven't seen them since." he finished.

His eyes were blank, deep. He said everything simply but there was a lot of hidden pain behind those words. Despite talking for his life as if it was someone else's, he managed to transfer every single feeling he had experienced all this time.

I needed a lot of time to take in these information. I didn't know how to respond, to comfort him. It seemed unbelievable for a person to have been through all of these and still be reasonable and able to handle it. I couldn't find the words to express my thoughts but I tried anyway. "I don't even know what to say. I am really sorry Danny. You are very brave and strong to be able to go through all of these alone."

"I have come to terms with it. I messed with my life and it messed with me. It's just how things flow." he sounded like quitting.

"It's not like that when others try to take over your life. It's not ok and you know it." I was starting to show my rebellious self. Something that only came out when I got passionate over something.

"There are not many things I can do. I have more important stuff to worry about." he said remaining calm.

"What, now there's more?" I couldn't imagine that there could be more than just two absent parents and a maniac obsessed with hurting you in all ways possible.

"Vlad is also obsessed with ruling the world. When someone dies they don't know how to control their powers, or how to be ghosts in other words. The older ones are stronger and wiser and now Vlad has convinced them that if they make the whole human world, the human kind, part of their world, they will be able to govern."

"So they kind of want to kill us all?" I asked trying to make it look a little simpler.

"Kinda." he agreed smiling.

"Isn't there any way to stop them?" I wondered returning to seriousness.

"They can only hurt us if thy get into our world. There aren't many ways to accomplish that. There s only my parent's portal, Vlad's portal which malfunctions since I once destroyed it, and the natural portals." he informed me.

"Is there any way to close the natural portals?"

"They constantly appear randomly in different parts of the planet. The only one who can create or destroy them is Wulf, one of my allies in the ghost zone. He collaborates with Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen who owns the infi-map, the only map that shows every natural portal. He is in charge of sending back the ghosts that come out from them while I try to handle all of those who escape through my parent's portal."

I had totally lost it. I think I was just staring at him without even moving. I needed a lot of time to process all the information. How many things were going on in the world without us even knowing it. And I thought being hated by all of your classmates was a major problem.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?" he asked me and I instantly snapped out of my thoughts. He was looking at me with fascination and I couldn't place why.

"Sorry I think it's too much for just one day." We were sitting there for hours and I hadn't even realized that it was already nighttime. The sky had gotten dark and you could see the stars starting to appear.

"I don't blame you. It's really late. We should probably get going." he said standing up.

I stood up as well and stretched. We walked the way to my home silently, taking in the peaceful scenery of the streets. We were finally standing right in front of my doorstep.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow. And sorry for not coming the other night." he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's ok, I understand. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Sam!" He waved.

I only waved and got into my house. It was going to be a long night of thinking.

**A/N:** I hope it was good... I don't have a lot of inspiration lately but I try anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Danny Phantom.


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